I'll Hold On To You

chapter two

[Relaina]

Nagkamalay ako around late afternoon. I saw myself in an unfamiliar room -- that eventually, I realized that it was the clinic near the medical office of the university. Pambihira! Ganito pa talaga ang sumalubong sa akin on my first day here in Oceanside. Talk about being unlucky. Grabe!

Hindi ko mapigilang makaramdam ng inis at galit nang maalala ko ang insidente kanina. I never even noticed that my face was making such weird and angry expressions just thinking about it. Seryoso lang, kapag nakita ko lang talaga ulit ang lalaking iyon na may dahilan kung bakit ako nandito sa clinic, bibigyan ko talaga ng malaking injury ang mukha ng sira-ulong iyon. I don't care kung guwapo siya! I won't give a damn care about it!

Great. I couldn't even hide my fury just thinking about that jerk. Hindi maganda sa mental health ko 'to, sa totoo lang. Pero kailangan niyang malaman ang galit ko.

Aba, kapalit lang iyon ng head injury na inabot ko, 'no? Ayon kasi sa doktor na naroon sa clinic, may batong tumusok daw sa ulo ko. Mabuti na lang at hindi naman daw malalim ang sugat kaya nadaan pa sa antiseptic at gauze. Pero kailangan ko pa ring magdahan-dahan sa pagkilos dahil baka bumukas ang sugat at magdugo na naman.

The next day, hindi na nakakapagtakang galit pa rin ako dahil sa mga nangyari. Lalo na nang hindi ko pa rin nakikita at nabibigwasan ang pagmumukha ng lalaking iyon na nagbigay sa akin ng injury. But for now, I needed to go to school and copy some of the notes from the classes I never got to attend yesterday. Ayokong may ma-miss sa mga lectures, 'no? When I entered the room, I saw Mayu approaching me with a worried look on her face.

"Kumusta ka na? Ano na ang pakiramdam mo? Are you okay? Does it still hurt somewhere? Sabihin mo lang sa akin kung may masakit pa sa 'yo para masamahan na kitang umuwi," Mayu said while trying not to freak out which only made me smile.

Grabe namang mag-alala ang pinsan kong 'to. I wanted to laugh because of that but I stopped myself and tried my best not to show that to Mayu. Sisimangutan na naman kasi niya ako kapag tinawanan ko siya. At least, nakatulong ang pag-aalala niya para mapawi ang inis at iritasyon ko. "I'm fine, so don't worry about me. Besides, kailan ba ako nagreklamo nang husto dahil lang nahulog ako sa hagdan?"

Mayu just looked at me with wide eyes. "Listen here, Miss Relaina Elysse Avellana! Nasisiraan ka na ba ng bait, ha? Kung alam mo lang kung paano ako nag-panic kahapon habang buhat-buhat ka ni Brent na walang malay papunta sa clinic. My goodness! I almost had a heart attack, you know that?"

I just laughed and decided not to pay attention to the suddenly fast beating of my heart when I heard the name she mentioned. Bakit naman may ganoon? May ibig sabihin ba dapat iyon, ha? "Bata ka pa para atakihin sa puso, Mayu. And since when did you panic just because I lost consciousness, huh?"

"Huwag mo akong pinipilosopo kung ayaw mong dagdagan ko pa 'yang sugat mo sa ulo, puwede?"

Nanahimik na lang ako pagkatapos n'on. Mayu remained with me as she sat on the seat just beside me. She handed me some of her notebooks where the notes were written from the subjects I didn't get to attend yesterday because of the accident. Mag-uumpisa na sana ako sa pagsusulat when I saw someone standing in front of me and coughed just to get my attention. When I raised my head and looked at that person, I could only frown for some reason.

"Who are you?" I started. Wait... I knew I've seen this guy from somewhere. But that wasn't possible. We just met today. Thought I had to admit, he does resemble someone. At least at the point, I was so sure.

"Bago ka pa tuluyang maguluhan because you could see that he resembles someone, let me make a proper introduction, okay?" Mayu interjected, breaking that weird silence between us. "This is Neilson Alexander Montreal, and he's Brent's fraternal twin brother."